Former youth counselor sentenced to 5 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sex crimes

RICHMOND COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- After pleading guilty to three charges of child sex crimes, a former Richmond County youth counselor has been sentenced to five years in prison.

In a hearing back in March, David Lawrence Schneider pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated sexual battery and two charges of taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial role.

This plea followed an original investigation in August 2024 that charged Schneider -- a youth counselor who worked at several different churches and schools throughout Richmond County -- with 19 felony charges.

One of the indecent liberties charges is the result of an incident in February 2016, while the other two charges are related to a June 2024 incident.

During a hearing on Monday, July 14, for the aggravated sexual battery charge, Schneider was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 15 years suspended under several conditions.

For the two charges of indecent acts with a child, Schneider was sentenced to five years, with all five suspended under certain conditions for each.

The probation conditions for all three charges include:

• Peace and good behavior for the duration of the original sentences
• Supervised probation for five years
• No employment where Schneider would be in contact with minors
• Enrolling and complying with the sex offender registry
• Payment of court costs and the completion of sex offender
• Drug treatment programs under the supervision of a probation officer